Checker chamber cleaning apparatus



April 9, 1963 A. GRANT CHECKER CHAMBER CLEAKIING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 13, 1961 Fig.2.

INVENTOR.

LOU/S A. GRANT his ATTORNEY April 9, 1963 A. GRANT 3,084,921

CHECKER CHAMBER CLEANING APPARATUS Filed Jan. 13, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 :7 I// ,l i I I l I I l J L\\\\[ I I I l I6 2' if i: 5

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INVENTOR LOUIS A. GRANT his ATTORNEY United States Patent Oli ice 3,84,9Zl Patented Apr. 9, 1963 ,0$4,921 CHECKER CHAMBER CLEANING APPARATUS Louis A. Grant, 7886 Saltshurg Road, Monroeville, Pa. Filed .lan. 13, 1961, Ser. No. 82,594 11 Claims. (Cl. 26319) My invention relates to apparatus for making steel and more particularly to an apparatus and method of cleaning checker chambers in an open hearth furnace.

In the making of steel in an open hearth furnace, it has been found to be advantageous to provide what are known in the art as checker chambers. Usually two of these are provided for each fumacc. Exhaust gases leaving the main body of the furnace are fed through one of the checker chambers before being allowed to escape up the chimney. These exhaust gases heat the interior of the first checker chamber to a temperature of approximately l600 to 1800 F. When the interior of the first checker chamber is hot, the direction of flow of the gases is changed so that incoming fresh air to the furnace passes through the hot checker chamber, being thereby preheated, flows through the furnace and then out through the cold checker chamber and up the chimney. Again on this cycle as the gases pass out of the furnace through the cold checker chamber they heat the interior of the cold chamber so that it is ready to preheat the gases on the next cycle.

In order to make the checker chambers more efficient they are filled with brick arranged in a honeycomb fashion so that there are air passages between them vertically and periodically between them horizontally.

In the operation of the checker chambers 21 flue dust collects on the walls of the chambers or more particularly on the walls of the many small passages through a chamber so that circulation through the chamber is restricted whereby only a small portion of the chamber is heated and the effectiveness of the chamber for regeneration is therefore greatly restricted. For continued operation it is necessary to remove this fiue dust from the walls of the passageways through the chamber.

In order to remove the flue dust it has been the practice in theindustry to have a man use a long iron pipe having air under pressure passing therethru and out thru two sets of oppositely disposed holes near the end. The operators insert it in one of the passages through the chamber flopping it around and feeling their way back through the rows of brick which comprise the walls. The difficulty of cleaning these chambers may be more clearly understood if one will imagine two bricks placed parallel on the ground eight inches apart. Two other bricks are then placed on top of the first two bricks at right angles to the first two bricks, one being at each end of the first two bricks. Continuing this instruction out in all directions, one has a rough picture of the honeycomb construction in the chamber. Therefore, in cleaning any passage the operator encounters not a smooth floor, but instead, the floor of each passage comprises a row of bricks extending at right angles to the axis of the passage with gaps of approximately eight inches between successive bricks. Any machine which is used to clean one of these passages must therefore be capable of moving through the passage without catching on any of the many corners which it will encounter. By using a long iron rod as has been the traditional practice, a man is able to feel his way back by flopping the rod around so that when it encounters the edge of a brick he merely flops it up and down until it bounces past that brick and continues on. Needless to say that with the temperature inside the chamber being approximately 1600 F. the problem of cleaning the checker chamber is greatly aggravated.

Cleaning the chamber manually is an extremely dirty line.

and extremely hot job. There is great temptation to run the rod only part way in and then start pulling it back because of the heat of the furnace which is highly uncomfortable. It would also seem to one skilled in the art that the cleaning by machine of one passageway at a time would be no faster than cleaning it with the present method and would require just as many men to do the cleaning job without being as efiicient. However, it would seem that a machine which would clean several passageways at a time, must be simple of construction and some means must be found to prevent problems caused by the cleaning mechanisms catching on the brick.

Since this problem seemed impossible of solution it has been generally disregarded.

The applicant has been struck with the simplicity with which the problem may be solved by the apparatus and method described in greater detail hereinafter, whereby he inserts a plurality of independently operated pipes into a furnace carrying steam or air under pressure so as to effectively clean the furnace. Further, by having the jets at the nozzle end of the pipe directed outward at an angle to the axis of the pipe, the pipe tends to push itself away from any obstruction. If any one passageway in the group of passageways being cleaned is blockedby a solid obstruction, it does not interfere with the operation of the machine in cleaning the other passageways because each of the pipes are independently powered or driven. The direction of each of the pipes is controlled initially by passing them through two sets of cooperating rollers in spaced relation to each other so that a plurality of pipes may be directed at a plurality of passages at the same time.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide improved apparatus for the production of steel.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a device for mechanically cleaning a plurality of the passages through achecker chamber in an open hearth furnace simultaneously.

It is still another object of my invention to provide an improved method of removing flue dust from the walls of the passageways of a checker chamber in an open hearth furnace.

The novel features that I consider characteristic of my invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understoodfrom the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of feeding apparatus in accordance with my invention.

' FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view of feeding apparatus in accordance with my invention.

FIGURE 3 is a showing in cross-section of a portion of a checker chamber with a hose therein in accordance with my invention.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention I provide a mounting plate 4 of rigid material preferably of steel having rigidly attached thereto a plurality of reels 6, 8 and 10 having axes along the same The said reels are constructed to handle flexible steel pipes or hoses 12, 14 and 16.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention a set of idler rollers are attached to the steel plate near the reels. The idler rolls cooperate to guide the hose off of the reel. The idler rolls comprise a long common roller 18 located to receive pipe from all of the reels over its top'. Above the long roller 18 which is located at the bottom I provide three V-grooved rollers 2t), 22 and 24 with axes parallel to the axis of the long roller 18 and cooperating with the long roller so as to guide the pipes. One of the V-grooved rollers is provided for each reel. The V-grooved rollers 20, 22, and 24 are anchored to a top framework 26 which is anchored in turn to the base plate 4. The V-grooved rollers are mounted so that they may be adjusted vertically by removal of shims 41, also horizontally parallel to their axis by the bolt and slot connections 40. By adjusting the V-grooved rollers in the vertical direction the tension placed by the rollers on their respective flexible pipes is varied.

Near the opposite end of the base plate 4 from that on which the reels 6, 8 and 10 are attached, I provide a set of powered or driven rollers 21, 23 and 27 similar in construction to the idler rollers except that the lower long driven roller 28 is powered preferably by a chain drive 30 from an air motor '32 located on top of the frame. The two sets of rollers are preferably so oriented that the center of the gap between the rollers is a little above the plane at the bottom of the reels so that the pipe coming off the reels moves substantially in a straight line toward the rollers. Thus as the flexible metal hose is fed off of the reels it moves through between a pair of idler rollers and continues on in a straight horizontal line through between a pair of driven rollers and out into the space beyond.

The metal hoses 12, 14 and 16 preferably comprise 1% inch O.D. stainless steel flexible pipe. These hoses are a little more than twenty-six feet long and have a six foot rigid cylindrical nozzle 36 on the end thereof opposite the end which is fastened to the reel. The nozzle has a diameter of 1% inches and is tapered at the end 3611 in the form of a slightly oval shaped cone. A plurality of holes are provided in the cone shaped nose of the nozzle extending at an acute angle to the axis of the nozzle.

Aforementioned feeding machine is located adjacent to the outside wall of a checker chamber 34. The machine is so oriented that the axes of the rollers are substantially parallel to the face of the checker chamber 34. The machine is oriented so that the three pipes are opposite three passageways extending in a horizontal direction into the interior of the furnace checker chamber.

The checker chambers are usually built with brick spaced with eight inch centers. Since the metallic hoses 12, 14 and 1-6 are preferably of 1% inches diameter there is a substantial amount of space between the walls of the hoses and the Walls of the passageways. The operation is begun with the three nozzles located between their respective idler rollers and driven rollers, with the base of the nozzle substantially over the idler rollers and the nose of the nozzle extending outward beyond the driven rollers a distance of about three feet. The machine is moved forward towards the face of the chamber until the three nozzle heads extend into the entrance of their respective passageways.

In accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention steam under pressure from a source 39 is employed to remove the flue dust from the walls of the passage way of the checker chamber. The steam is fed through pipe 38 into the axle of the reels through the interior of the axles thence into the flexible metal hoses and through the hoses to the nozzles which are inside of the checker chamber. Since the nozzles of the hoses have a plurality of holes extending at an acute angle to the axis of the nozzle, streams of steam are directed outward at such an angle as to force the nozzle away from any obstruction which it comes near, thus tending to keep it from catching on successive bricks along the passageway. Further, the nozzle is substantially cone shaped so that the point of the nozzle tends to ride above projecting bricks.

The temperature inside the checker chambers at the time of cleaning them is usually around 1600 F. Preferably the steam applied through the nozzle should have a pressure at the base of the nozzle of at least 200 pounds per square inch. The holes in the nozzle should be preferably 1 inch in diameter or smaller. The steam which is much cooler than the flue dust coating the chambers causes the coating to flake oh and fall down the vertical passageways and out the bottom. Although the steam is cold compared to the temperature of the brick, nevertheless, the heat present in the area is so intense that the air is quickly warmed to a high temperature and does not cause cracking of the brick as would be expected for example if the wall of a brick cone were broken open before the bricks were allowed to cool.

In accordance with other embodiments of my invention I employ air under high pressures in the flexible steel tubing for removing the flue dust from the Walls of the checker chamber passages.

I claim as my invention:

'1. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber formed of a stack of bricks having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, comprising, in combination, a reel of flexible metal pipe located near the opening to one of said horizontal passages and external to said chamber, spaced apart support bricks on the bottom of said horizontal passageways, a first pair of rollers having axes parallel to each other and parallel to the axis of said reel, said rollers cooperating with a predetermined spacing therebetween, said rollers being located between said reel and said horizontal passageway so as to receive flexible metallic hose from said reel and direct it towards said passageway, a second pair of rollers cooperating with each other located between said first pair and said passageway and having the space therebetween on a line between the opening of said passageway and the spacing between said first pair of rollers, a flexible metal hose on said reel and extending between said first pair of rollers and said second pair of rollers and into said passageway, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof inside said passageway, said rigid nozzle being in length equal to at least three times the distance between adjacent support bricks on the bottom of said passage, said nozzle having openings therein at the end thereof extending outward at an angle less than to the axis of said nozzle, means for adjusting one of said rollers of each pair of rollers so as to cause them to grasp said flexible conduit tightly and driving means attached to one of said rollers of one of said pairs of rollers.

2. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace comprising a checker chamber formed of a stack of bricks having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, comprising, in combination a storage apparatus for flexible metal hose located near the opening to one of said horizontal passageways and external to said chamber, spaced apart support bricks on the bottom of said horizontal passageways, a first pair of rollers having axes parallel to each other and parallel to the axis of said reel, said rollers cooperating with a predetermined spacing therebetween, said rollers being located between said storage apparatus and said horizontal passageway so as to receive flexible metallic hose from said storage apparatus and direct it towards said passageway, a second pair of rollers cooperating with each other located between said first pair and said passageway and having the space therebetween on a line between the opening of said passageway and the spacing between said first pair of rollers, a flexible metal hose in said storage apparatus and extending between said first pair of rollers and said second pair of rollers and into said passageway, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof inside said passageway, said rigid nozzle being in length equal to at least three times the distance between adjacent support bricks on the bottom of said passage, said nozzle having openings therein at the end thereof extending outward at an angle less than 90 to the axis of said nozzle, means for adjusting one of said rollers of each pair of rollers so as to cause them to grasp said flexible conduit tightly, and

driving means attached to one of said rollers of one of said pairs of rollers.

3. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, a storage apparatus for flexible metal hose located near the opening to one of said horizontal passageways and external to said chamber, a pair of rollers having axes parallel to each other and parallel to the axis of said reel, said rollers cooperating with a predetermined spacing therebetween, said rollers being located between said storage apparatus and said horizontal passageway so as to receive flexible metallic hose from said storage apparatus and direct it towards said passageway, a flexible metal hose in said storage apparatus and extending between said pair of rollers and into said passageway, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof inside said passageway, said rigid nozzle being in length equal to at least three times the distance between adjacent support bricks on the bottom of said passage, said nozzle having openings therein at the end thereof extending outward at an angle less than 90 to the axis of said nozzle, means for adjusting one of said rollers of said pair of rollers so as to cause them to grasp said flexible conduit tightly, and driving means attached to one of said rollers of said pair of rollers.

4. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, a storage apparatus for flexible metal hose located near the opening to one of said horizontal passageways and external to said chamber, a first set of rollers having-axes parallel to each other and parallel to the axis of said reel, said first'setof rollers comprising a long common roller and at least two individual rollers cooperating with saidcommon roller with a predetermined spacing therebetween, said rollers being located between said storage apparatusand said horizontal passageway so as to receive flexiblemetallic hose from said storage apparatusand direct it-towards said passageway, a second set of rollers cooperating with each other located between said first set and said passageway and having the space between cooperating members of each set on a line between the opening of said passageway and the spacing between the corresponding members of said first set of rollers, a plurality of flexible metal hoses in said storage apparatus and extending between said first set of rollers and said second set of rollers and into said passageway, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof inside said passageway, said rigid nozzle being in length equal to at least three times the distance between adjacent support bricks on the bottom of said passage, said nozzle having openings therein at the end thereof extending outward at an acute angle to the axis of said nozzle, means for adjusting one of said rollers of each set of rollers so as to cause cooperating rollers to grasp said flexible conduit tightly, and driving means attached to one of said rollers of each pair of cooperating rollers of one set of rollers.

5. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, a storage apparatus for flexible metal hose located near the opening to one of said horizontal passages and external to said chamber, a plurality of sets of cooperating rollers having axes parallel to each other and parallel to the axis of said reel, said rollers being located between said storage apparatus and said horizontal passageway so as to receive flexible metallic hose from said storage apparatus and direct it towards said passageway, a plurality of flexible metal hoses in said storage apparatus, one hose extending between each of said set of rollers and into said passageway, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof inside said pasageway, said rigid nozzle being in length equal to at least three times the distance between adjacent support bricks on the bottom of said passageway, said nozzle having openings therein at the end thereof extending outward at an angle less than to the axis of said nozzle, means for adjusting one of said rollers of each set of rollers so as to cause them to grasp said flexible conduit tightly, and driving means attached to one of said rollers of each sets of rollers.

6. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber formed of a stack of bricks having interconnected vertical and horizontal passageways, spaced apart support bricks on the bottom of said horizontal passageway, a storage apparatus for flexible metal hose, a first pair of rollers having axes parallel to each other and parallel to the axis of said reel, said rollers cooperating with a predetermined spacing therebetween, said rollers being located near said storage apparatus so as to receive flexible metallic hose from said storage apparatus, a second pair of rollers cooperating with each other located so as to receive hose from said first pair of rollers and having the space therebetween on a line betweenthe spacing between said first pair of rollers and the point where hose is fed from said storage apparatus, a flexible metalhose in said storage apparatus and extending between said first pair of rollers and said second pair of rollers, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof, said rigid nozzle being in length equal to at least three times the distance between adjacent support bricks on the bottom of said passageway, said nozzle having openings therein at the end thereof extending outward at an angle less than 90 to the axis of said nozzle, means for adjusting one of said rollers of each pair of rollers so as to cause them to grasp said flexible conduit, tightly, and driving means attached to one of said rollers of one of said pairs of rollers.

7. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, a storage apparatus for flexible metal hose located near the opening to one of said horizontal passageways and external to said chamber, spaced apart support bricks on the bottom of said horizontal passageways, a first pair of rollers having axes parallel to each other and parallel to the axis of said storage apparatus, said rollers cooperating with a predetermined spacing therebetween, said rollers being located between said storage apparatus and said horizontal passageway so as to receive flexible metallic hose from said storage apparatus and direct it towards said passageway, a second pair of rollers cooperating with each other located between said first pair and said passageway and having the space therebetween on a line between the opening of said passageway and the spacing between said first pair of rollers, a flexible metal hose in said storage apparatus and extending between said first pair of rollers and said second pair of rollers and into said passageway, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof inside said passageway, said rigid nozzle being in length equal to at least three times the distance between adjacent support bricks on the bottom of said passageway, said nozzle having openings therein at the end thereof extending outward at an angle less than 90 to the axis of said nozzle, means for adjusting one of said rollers of each pair of rollers so as to cause them to grasp said flexible conduit tightly, and driving means attached to one of said rollers of one of said pairs of rollers, and a supply of steam under pressure connected to the end of said pipe in said storage apparatus.

8. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, a storage apparatus for flexible metal hose located near the opening to one of said horizontal passages and external to said chamber, a first set of rollers having axes parallel to each other and parallel to the axis of said storage apparatus, said set of rollers comprising a plurality of pairs of cooperating rollers with a predetermined spacing therebetween, said first set of rollers being located between said storage apparatus and said horizontal passageway so as to receive flexible metallic hose from said storage apparatus and direct it towards said passageway, a second set of rollers comprising a plurality of pairs of cooperating rollers located between said first set and said passageway and having the space between members of each pair of said second set on a line between the opening of said passageway and the spacings between cooperating pairs of said first set of rollers, a flexible metal hose in said storage apparatus and extending between said first set of rollers and said second set of rollers and into said passageway, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof inside said passageway, said rigid nozzle being in length equal to at least three times the distance between adjacent support bricks on the bottom of said passageway, said nozzle having openings therein at the end thereof extending outward at an angle less than 90 to the axis of said nozzle, means for adjusting one of said rollers of each pair of rollers so as to cause them to grasp said flexible conduit tightly, and driving means attached to one of said rollers of one of said pairs of rollers, and a supply of gas under pressure connected to the end of said pipe in said storage apparatus.

9. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, a storage apparatus for flexible metal hose located near the opening to one of said horizontal passages and external to said chamber, means for receiving metal hose from said storage apparatus and directing it into said passageway, a flexible metal hose in said storage apparatus and extending thru said means for receiving and into said passageway, said hose having a rigid nozzle on the end thereof inside said passageway, and a supply of a gas under pressure connected to the end of said hose which is inside said storage apparatus.

10. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected'passageways, comprising, in combination, a reel rotatably mounted on a horizontal axis at right angles to certain of saidhorizontal passageways, a flexible conduit of fire-resistant material wrapped about said reel, a fluid supply pipe extending'axially of said reel and connected to one end of said conduit, a rigid end portion at the other end of said conduit which is adapted to be projected into a horizontal passageway and which terminates in a nozzle having laterally extending holes at an angle of less than with respect to the axis of said nozzle for squirting cleaning fluid into said vertical passageways, and power driven means including rollers frictionally driving a portion of said conduit as it is unreeled for axially driving said nozzle and rigid end portion into and out of said horizontal passageway, selectively.

11. Apparatus for cleaning a furnace checker chamber having a plurality of horizontal and vertical interconnected passageways, comprising, in combination, a plurality of coaxial reels rotatably mounted on an axis parallel to certain of said horizontal passageways, a flexible metal pipe wrapped about each reel, a cleaning fluid supply pipe extending along the axes of said reels and connected to one end of said flexible metal pipes, a nozzle connected to the other end of each of said flexible metal pipes and adaptedto be projected into one of said horizontal passageways, said nozzle having holes at an angle of less than 90 with respect to its axis for squirting cleaning fluid into said vertical passageways, a plurality of drive rollers, each frictionally driving a length of said flexible pipe after unreeling, and motor means for simultaneously driving said flexible metal pipe into and out of a plurality of said horizontal passageways whereby they may be cleaned simultaneously.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,541,621 Carini June 9, 1925 1,687,012 Forth -a Oct. 9, 1928 2,136,113 Loftus Nov. 8, 1938 2,409,442 Montgomery Oct. 15, 1946 2,559,350 Drake July 3, 1951 2,604,358 Richards July 22, 1952 2,669,217 Pearson Feb. 16, 1954 2,710,225 Richards June 7, 1955 2,737,192 Bieler Mar. 6, 1956 2,749,176 Steyer June 5, 1956 

9. APPARATUS FOR CLEANING A FURNACE CHECKER CHAMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF HORIZONTAL AND VERTICAL INTERCONNECTED PASSAGEWAYS, A STORAGE APPARATUS FOR FLEXIBLE METAL HOSE LOCATED NEAR THE OPENING TO ONE OF SAID HORIZONTAL PASSAGES AND EXTERNAL TO SAID CHAMBER, MEANS FOR RECEIVING METAL HOSE FROM SAID STORAGE APPARATUS AND DIRECTING IT INTO SAID PASSAGEWAY, A FLEXIBLE METAL HOSE IN SAID STORAGE APPARATUS AND EXTENDING THRU SAID MEANS FOR RECEIVING AND INTO SAID PASSAGEWAY, SAID HOSE HAVING A RIGID NOZZLE ON THE END THEREOF INSIDE SAID PASSAGEWAY, AND A SUPPLY OF A GAS UNDER PRESSURE CONNECTED TO THE END OF SAID HOSE WHICH IS INSIDE SAID STORAGE APPARATUS. 